First Grade Chatterbox
Ms. Hedrick's Newsletter for the Week of May 22nd
Important Dates
May 24
- All library books due back to the MRC
May 26
- Teacher Institute Day - no school
May 29
- Memorial Day - no school
June 2
- Brookfield Zoo Field Trip
June 5
- Grading Day - no school
June 7
- Regular classes in the morning
- Field Day in the afternoon
June 8
- Last Day of School
Classroom Happenings
Can it really be the end of May? Say it isn’t so! As the end of the year quickly approaches, I can’t help but reflect on the tremendous growth that each child has made this year.
This week will be our last sight word pretest and posttest.
As you think about days without alarm clocks and empty lunchboxes, I hope you also remember to find some time to practice reading, writing and math over the summer. You can help set your child up for success in second grade by encouraging them to read 10-15 minutes everyday. Don't forget, RAZ Kids will be available through August. Utilizing IXL over the summer is an effective way to help children retain the skills and concepts they’ve learned this year, as well. Students will have access to IXL through most of August. Your child could even continue writing in their Friday Journal over the summer. : )
A BIG thank-you to all of the students and parents who made Teacher Appreciation week so special! Between the Staff Center Makeover on Monday, the flowers that were delivered on Tuesday, the coffee delivered on Wednesday and all the thoughtful cards that were brought in Thursday, I feel very grateful to work with such a caring group of families!
Reading
Earlier in May, we began our poetry unit during reading. Students have learned that poems look different from other texts. They have white space, line breaks and have special layouts or shapes. We also learned that some poems include words that rhyme, while others don’t. Poems that do not have rhyming words are called free-verse. Finally, students learned that poems can include special sounds. Poets often use poetic devices like repetition, alliteration and onomatopoeia to make their poems fun to read.
Students are also learning that good readers visualize or create mental images while they read. We have learned that poets use a variety of language to help readers step in to the world of poetry.
Writing
In writing, we finished publishing our All-About books. Students learned to write what they already knew about a chosen topic. Then we asked questions, with parent help conducted a little research, and finally added the research to our books. Our books include nonfiction text features like a table of contents, headings, diagrams, and pictures with captions and labels. We put the finishing touches on our books by adding a hook or introduction and a conclusion. It was so much fun sharing all our hard work at our published book reading. Thank you to all who attended!
As an extension of our poetry unit in reading, students are also learning to write poetry. So far, students have created bio-poems and acrostic poems. Soon, students will learn about haiku and diamante poems, too!
We have been as busy as bees during writing, because students are also working on opinion writing. Students have learned that opinion writing requires that we state an opinion, support it with 1-2 reasons and end with a call to action. During reading, students are putting what they know about this type of writing to good use as they write and record book reviews using an app called Chatter Pix! Ask your child which book(s) he or she wrote a review for.
Math
We are knee deep in our geometry unit. During this unit, we will learn how to:
- name and describe solid and plane shapes using words like sides, vertices and faces
- distinguish between defining and non-defining attributes
- sort shapes by a variety of attributes including shape, size and color
- partition shapes into equal parts or fractions using words like halves, thirds and fourths
- combine shapes to create a new shape
Our final unit will be a mini-unit about time! Students will learn to tell time to the hour and half hour.
Skills to Practice on IXL:
Kindergarten Skills:
- V.1-V.7
- W.1-W.10
First Grade Skills:
- V.1-V.5
- W.1-W.10
- X.1-X.4
Second Grade Skills:
- T.1-T.4
- U.1-U.8
Science
In Science, our measurement unit is well under way! During this unit, students will participate in hands-on activities that teach them about perimeter, area, volume and even weight!